Fledgling
by fxity
Summary: AU. Alex is a multimillionaire business woman always on the hunt for talent. Piper's fresh out of college trying her best to break into the world of journalism. When Alex stumbles across Piper's blog one day she realises she's onto a winner. But for someone who is normally a good judge of character, she get's Piper completely wrong. Maybe she wasn't cut out for it after all...
1. Chapter 1

**Just a little idea I had while scrolling through Tumblr. Please bare with me as it might take a few chapters for it to become clear where I'm going with this.**

Piper

All her life Piper Chapman had dreamed of being a writer. When she was little she would make words rhyme without even thinking and her parents would tell her that she was 'a poet and she didn't know it.' Young Piper would giggle at the idea, with little understanding but knowledge that she was doing something right. As she grew older she would write the school plays and delve into the world of fiction. She would tell her friends that reading was a form of research, entirely embarrassed at the idea that this was her favourite hobby. To her parents being well read was a necessity, to Piper it was a guilty pleasure, one that she would only share with herself.

But as she grew older and entered her college years where she majored in English and minored in Theatre it all became apparent that she no longer had the attention span that was required to write, not in the same way. Still even now, post-college she wanted to be a writer. She wanted to be a writer of music, of travel, of life. She wanted to share her opinions and experience and views on the world. The young girl who had been afraid to admit her passions had grown into a woman all to eager to share her deepest thoughts. But she'd have to reach her dream the hard way.

Her internship programme in the final year had amounted to little and she was stuck applying to other programmes in an industry that lest many on the poverty line. She was lucky enough to have met a friend in Polly Harper at college, a young creative soap maker from Upstate New York. Together they lived in a tiny flat not too far from Time Square. Some months Piper would struggle to make rent and would have to rely on help from her parents. They had offered to help her on the job front with her father's contacts in the industry but this was something she wanted to do alone; she wanted to achieve through merit and hard work.

So here Piper was on a Friday night, sat writing a blog post on Ed Sheeran's, an English singer/songwriter, latest album: X. In her blog she covered the arts, trying to establish an niche through British culture, but was struggling immensely. Her posts on Jane Austin's Pride and Prejudice, and the British sitcom Fawlty Towers were too outdated for her target audience so here she was writing an article on Ed Sheeran. For someone who wanted to work with popular culture she was very much indie. Her knowledge on chart music was lacking and the fact that this was the first time she'd ever listened to Ed Sheeran would have been shocking to anyone. He reminded her of the dude from Harry Potter that was scared of spiders and this sent a shiver down her spine.

Often people would question why she would bother going into this industry if her knowledge was lacking but if anyone took a look at her YouTube channel they'd see why. Primarily they were full of reaction videos. "Piper Chapman reacting to...". She was loved by thousands and has received quite a following and this was the only reason she hadn't changed her ways. After posting her reaction video to Ed Sheeran the day before she was now following it up with a review of her music as a nice way to tie her blogging into it all - the main reason she was doing it in the first place.

When reviewing an album she would close her eyes blocking the world out so all she could hear was the music. It was always important to conduct the research after listening to the album for the first time to ensure that she had an objective view and then she would compare her opinions to others. However on this particular day Polly was making a large amount of noise in the kitchen with her attempts at making new variants of soap so Piper was having difficulty concentrating. Her cup of tea that was steaming hot when she sat down for the second listen half an hour ago was now cold and rather disgusting.

It was obvious that this post wasn't going to be up to her usual standard but no one would notice. Her readership wasn't large and her target audience was mainly young people who really cared little for the quality of the review but more the content. In an attempt to get on with her day and feeling a wave of boredom Piper wrote it out in one go reading over it once as part of the editing process before clicking the 'upload button' on her screen. No turning back now.

She pushed her chair out and leaned forward in her chair enabling her to put both hands flat on the table so she could heave herself out of the chair. She grabbed her phone on the way out, checked for any texts messages; there was one from Larry but she paid little attention to it and turned her blog notifications on. The kitchen smelt odd. A mixture of mint, cinnamon, lavender and chutney filled the air. Piper was mostly curious about the chutney and glanced at Polly who shrugged in return.

"I've got to blow them away." She sighed clearly stressed.

"Chutney?" Piper questioned. "Chutney?" Piper repeated. "Is that a thing?"

"Well it is now."

Piper shrugged. "I might give this tester session a pass." She grabbed a blueberry which was sitting on the side with various other fruits. Polly slapped her hand but Piper grinned. Within seconds Polly was back to blending the ingredients and the noise echoed round the whole apartment.

Piper decided she'd go round the few bars a few blocks down to hand in her CV otherwise there was no way she could pay this months rent. Just as she grabbed her jacket her phone pinged. She grabbed it out of her pocket and read the notification. "You have one new comment on your blog post: "Review of Ed Sheeran's 'X'". She dropped her phone upon seeing who the comment was from.

Alex

"No Mike I said rebrand that doesn't mean use the same design and colour scheme." The raspy voice of Alex Vause echoed round the walls of her office. She slammed down the phone in anger. She couldn't be dealing with any of this. It was a Friday evening and she should be at a bar with Nicky somewhere drinking herself under the table and instead she was sat in her office finalising deals and arrangements. No one told her running a multi-million pound business was going to be this tough. As much as she attempted to distance herself from projects and devolve activities to her employees she just hated not having the final say. She loved being involved.

Her company VauseVentures was the biggest media outlet in the whole of the United States. In England she was referred to as the Richard Murdoch of the US. She had _that_ much power. Under VauseVentures ran a number of different projects, ranging from radio and television to newspapers and publishing. Whenever Alex felt she had too much time on her hands she would stretch out into another industry. Lately however, other businesses had been catching up, reports were suggesting that she was losing her power and this wasn't going to do for the raven-haired beauty hence the rebranding.

There was so much left for her to do but she conceded that little more could be done this evening. On a Friday night very few people would still be in reach and she too should call it a day. So her files were stuffed back into the filing cabinet and everything was removed from her desk and locked into her desk draw. Everything that is, except for her laptop. That thing of beauty never left her sight and while she was done with work for the day she still wanted to enjoy a little bit of downtime before getting disturbed by someone (probably Nicky).

Despite recruitment lying in the hands of each individual business, Alex was always on the hunt for new raw talent. She would scour the Internet for young writers with endless potential. It wasn't always writers; she would look for anything, even if it didn't fit into any of her current businesses. The thing that linked it all together was talent. She was a talent spotter. She was only able to do this because she herself possessed mountains of it. Her favourite thing to do was to search YouTube or Tumblr, looking for the hidden gems. Sometimes she would find someone who had as little as 20 views on YouTube and yet know there was potential. She wouldn't however contact them herself. She would merely recommend names and blogs to the relevant recruiters. Somewhere she had a black book of names that she spotted and whenever one of them cropped up she would put a tick next to the name, marking their careers that she had set out for them. None of them ever had a clue that it was she who had spotted them.

Alex always liked to go to a user's blog and read their first post and then their latest post to compare. To see if they'd grown since they'd started blogging and to see what they'd learnt, if they'd learnt anything at all. It was a clever way of determining potential and adaptation. She came across one blog in particular that intrigued her and she began reading. The girl in question possessed extreme talent Alex was in no doubt about that. Her writing was beautiful, so eloquent and articulate. There was no sense of rambling; it was straight to the point. She had to admit after reading the girl's first few posts that the talent wasn't always there. Her first post was dreadful. Alex hated to admit it but if the girl didn't look so damn attractive in her photo she wouldn't have given her a second chance. Shallow, but true. It wasn't often an attractive writer could enable Alex to focus on the work, but this one did it perfectly. She scrolled through the blog to find a name and information about the girl in question "Piper Chapman". Alex read off the screen. "What am I going to do with you?" She bit her bottom lip in excitement.

Piper's writing wasn't all brilliant, while the talent was undeniable her knowledge, or lack of, was evident. Granted Alex's experience in the industry provided her with an advantage but Piper's latest blog seemed a little under-researched. What Alex did next was a shock for everyone. For the first time in her life as a millionaire businesswoman she wrote a comment it read as follows.

 _Not bad Kid, not bad. Your write with such conviction it's hard not to get wrapped up even in a simple review. That's not something that can easily be taught. Your light-hearted humour presents reviews in a different light and it's a welcomed break from the dreary repetitive read that we see so often among the journalists of today. Your humour did hide the fact that you possess little knowledge however. When reviewing a piece of music ensure that you research every possible angle. Describing the song 'Photograph' as unique is inaccurate. A simple Google search will demonstrate that the chorus sounds a lot like a song called 'Amazing' by a British singer: Matt Cardle._

Alex paused with her comment. She thought about how to end it before adding ' _With a little bit of guidance you'll make it kid. Keep going.'_

She pressed the 'send' button. There was no turning back. She was hopeful that Piper, whoever she was, had only a small following otherwise journalists would be all over this like a hound tomorrow morning. She considered deleting the comment and writing a personal message instead but it was already posted and the email notification was probably sent and this was a little more formal.

She hoped that this Piper kid replied. She wanted to be the one to offer this innocent apparently twenty-two year old guidance… in more way than one.

Piper

Did she read it correctly? _The_ Alex Vause had commented on her blog post? That was almost unheard of. In fact it was completely unheard of. Piper clicked on the profile to confirm that it was indeed the one and only Alex Vause and it wasn't some little fucker messing her around and upon confirmation from the profile directing her to Alex Vause's website she squealed out loud.

"Polly" She called as she did a U-turn and galloped into the kitchen. "Polly turn the damn thing off you won't believe what's just happened." The blender was too loud for Polly to hear Piper and after a few seconds Piper couldn't stand it any longer and switched it off herself.

"What the fuck was that for whorebag?"

"Polly guess who just commented on my blog?" Piper said with a huge grin on her face.

"I don't know? The queen of England? Barack Obama?"

"Alex Vause."

"The Alex Vause?" Polly questioned her. "As in the millionaire lesbian heartbreaker Alex Vause?"

"The one and only."

"Are you sure she's not just preying on you?"

"Let me have my moment." Piper scolded. In all honesty she didn't care. She was elated that Alex had even read her work let alone commented. She hadn't even read it yet. She decided to get back on her laptop and conduct a reply. She considered posting one back in the comments section but thought while it might be cheeky of her, Alex had perused her first… technically. So a little personal message wouldn't do any harm would it? The worst that could happen is a lack of response, and the best? Well she could have a career after all.

Suddenly the noise of Polly's blender didn't matter anymore because Piper had been noticed by Alex Vause.


	2. Chapter 2

**Sorry it has taken me so long to update guys. Lots of stuff has happened. Family members out in Tunisia - all are safe thankfully. My laptop decided to temporarily die with half of the chapter written up on it before finally resurrecting - it turns out I can be a handywoman if I need to be!**

 **I promise the next update will be a lot lot sooner! Thank-you for the lovely reviews**

Piper

Piper hopped onto the seat of a bar stool as she ordered her Margarita. She tucked her dress in before sitting down. The flower-patterned dress was rather short and had she not done this she'd be revealing more to the world than she would have liked. It was strapless and although it was September it was chilly outside. When Piper left she hadn't noticed the temperature as she was still bouncing off the walls over the comment placed on her blog post by the Alex Vause. Now she was regretting her decision not to bring a cardigan.

After collecting her drink she decided to sit in a booth because for some stupid reason she thought it might make it less unbearable on her shoulders, which were a golden brown from the summer months. Her hair was let down loosely and the majority of it hung behind her back in summer waves. Her blonde glowing from the summer sun that had added an extra hint of colour and she looked gorgeous. When she thanked the guy at the bar for her drink she flashed a smile, which revealed one of her dimples, and there in that moment, Piper was in her prime. It's no wonder she was getting longing looks from men all around the bar, and scowls from the women who sat alongside them. Piper was completely ignorant of this and that was probably for the best.

She withdrew her iPad from her over the shoulder bag that she had placed on the table in front of her as she sat down in the booth. She had contemplated bringing her laptop with her but that was too complicated and bulky. She wasn't going to do some work after all. Originally she was just going to use it as a wind down on a Friday. She would have had a glass of wine at the apartment if Polly hadn't completely adopted the kitchen for her soap making. Now instead of just a wind down she was using this alcohol trip to decide how best to reply to Alex Vause despite her boyfriend's plea's for her to not go through with it.

Piper had called Larry after it was clear Polly was not going to join in the celebrations with this joyous news. She had hoped that at least her boyfriend would have been proud of her after all he knew what it was like to be a writer and the difficulties of it all. If anything he appeared disappointed, Piper sensed a bit of jealousy as he suggested that she didn't respond to Alex Vause as it would look like 'an act of desperation' to quote his use of words. She had angrily hung the phone up on him and told him to grow up. She had supported him when he was made editor of the Smith College newspaper and she had directly ran against him and a major thing happens in her life and he dismisses it like it's nothing.

So here she was sitting in a booth at a bar near her apartment with her cocktail. Her decision to go straight to the bar after her phone call with Larry was rather easy. It was that, that had made her determine to respond to Alex Vause in some shape or form. She felt like she was forever fighting to make it against people in this field and she wasn't going to let a pocket hole escape her. Larry was her competition, her parents were always telling her that it wasn't a stable career path and she should have chosen law and Cal was too wrapped up in his own world. Only Polly had supported her.

Piper drew her phone from her bag before realising that she'd switched it off after her phone call with Larry. She did this sometimes when she wanted space. It annoyed Polly a lot because Piper would suddenly be unreachable and then she'd have to spend hours apologising and promising never to do it again. She always would though. She decided it was best to turn it on in case Polly needed to get hold of her but she put it on the other side of the table and focused on her iPad. The blonde unlocked the screen revealing her background photo of her and her brother Cal from when they were younger. She stared at it for a moment before entering Safari.

She didn't even have to plug in the website address it was the last page she viewed and therefore automatically appeared when entering the app. She glanced at the comment and the name and the picture that accompanied. She clicked on the username revealing the profile of Alex Vause with her followers on show. 18 million. _Eighteen fucking million_ Piper said to herself. She'd never really explored Alex's blog before. Of course she knew about the woman and what she did she just thought she would never reach that level herself; and then she saw the photo.

She'd never really looked at Alex Vause; not properly. Her long jet-black hair shone in the light and her glasses fit her face perfectly. Her make-up almost non-existent except for black eyeliner that drew attention to the wonderful eyes this woman possessed. She could have been a model had she chosen to be. She was fucking gorgeous. Piper looked up, suddenly feeling embarrassed for staring at the photo of Alex for so long before realising that no one could actually see her. She'd never looked at women before, she'd never really noticed them before and this time she put it down to her over enthusiasm towards the woman for the attention she'd paid her.

Everything went out of the window in that moment as she thought _oh fuck it_ and clicked on the button, which allowed her to send a message. It wasn't like Alex was going to see it anyway. She downed her margarita rather inelegantly and called over the waiter to order another while she began writing the message. The alcohol rushed to her head and she had message written within minutes. She was sure it was dreadfully embarrassing but it didn't matter. She sent it off just as the waiter arrived with her second drink of which she grabbed it from him and downed that instantly too. If her mum were here she'd be positively unimpressed. Piper left a few coins at the bar and wondered off down the street. With the new lease of life she was given that evening she went in search of a club and rang Polly on her way because she was not going alone.

Alex

Alex sat in the back of her car as her driver drove her to her hotel. Despite having an office in New York she was yet to find an apartment that suited her and was still using a hotel on every visit. It wasn't ideal but it wasn't like she couldn't afford it. She wound down the back window giving her some fresh air. The breeze blew her hair about in such a perfect way that it was almost intended to happen. She smelt the city air and smiled to herself. She always loved visiting her New York office. Although LA was home, New York was probably the next best besides London and Paris. She was only around for a couple more days and intended to make the most of it. She had a dinner tomorrow evening that she had to attend but besides that the city was hers to roam about in.

In the car all her stuff sat in the boot, she hated carrying it beside her because it distracted her from enjoying her beautiful surroundings. The only thing she kept with her at all times was her phone. Even then she only had important emails on notification. Having said that recently she'd been a lot less careless, especially with her blog. The terms and conditions had changed and since she'd accepted them she hadn't actually gotten round to changing her notifications, which meant every time someone messaged her it would buzz through on her phone. Sometimes it would be a few times a day other days it would be around a hundred if she'd posted. On days like today where she hadn't posted in several days it was very quiet and she was able to check through her notifications without just clicking mass delete and going straight to her blog to check it out, it was fortunate then that it was on this same day Piper Chapman decided to inbox Alex.

Alex was only half-heartedly looking at her phone. She was in rather a hurry because she wanted to admire the views of city life as her home in LA was very much out of the way. She clicked a couple of her emails to go straight in the trash but upon seeing the name 'Piper Chapman' she refrained from adding that one to the list and instantly clicking trash to send the others there. She recognised that name and she was puzzling in her brain as to where from. Clicking on the email she saw the attached picture and the link to the woman's blog along with the notification that she'd sent her a message through her blog. _That's where she knew her from_ she thought to herself.

It hadn't been at all that long since she'd emailed Piper but Alex ran multiple businesses that constantly needed her attention and it was therefore no surprise that her mind was rarely occupied by anything other than work related issues. It was one of the reasons why she'd made a name for herself for having quite a few women. She just wasn't the relationship type. She had neither the time, the emotion nor the want to have a woman in her life permanently; she much preferred the no strings attached game. But Piper Chapman intrigued her. There was something naïve about this woman's writing, something innocent. It was obvious she was WASPy with a wealthy upbringing. Her blog screamed drug mule had she been running that kind of business. She was the kind that Alex thought she could wrap round her little finger. So out of curiosity Alex clicked on the email and began to read the message.

 **Alex,**

 **(I'm assuming it's okay for me to call you Alex seeing as you signed yourself off as Alex in your comment on my blog but next time if you prefer I could call you Ms Vause?)**

Alex scoffed at the idea of being called Ms Vause. It happened way too often for her liking and she hated it with a passion. God this girl was adorable.

 **Of course you may not remember who I am and then I deeply apologise for sending this message, which you are probably not reading but if you are I'd like to tell you that while I appreciate your comment and your time you didn't have to be so vulgar. I was giving my own PERSONAL take on the piece of music and not repeating exactly what every other industry expert had said. Yes, I admit at times I did lack a little bit of information but do you know how tedious it is to sit there making posts for a bunch of people who probably don't even read it? No. You. Don't. You've already made it.**

 _Wow kid you're so wrong about that,_ Alex thought to herself. Piper clearly didn't know about how Alex got to where she was. She was expecting something completely different to what she'd received. She thought she would get a thanks, which she did – kind of. But she also got a bollocking. This girl had surprised her. She had guts, and Alex wouldn't admit it in that moment but it was quite a turn on. She was usually good at reading people – women especially – but she couldn't seem to get a grasp on Piper and here she was still wanting to know more.

There wasn't anymore to the letter after that. Piper hadn't even signed it off with her name. She knew what it was like to be young and struggling. In fact she could guarantee she'd been in a worse situation than Piper was in right now and she didn't even know the woman for Christ's sake. Not yet that is. So she replied to Piper's message just before her car pulled up at the hotel. Within thirty seconds her door was opened and she stepped out. It was a warm evening in New York and she was up for some fun just as soon as she got some dinner in her. She sent a couple of messages to her friends in the city and made her way up to her room.

Piper

Piper had somehow found herself at another bar in the City and had managed to drag Polly along too. This was a bar she'd never been too and she wasn't going to lie it gave her the creeps a little. It appeared rather seedy and she wasn't sure whether it was because she'd already had some alcohol or it really was a seedy place but she felt rather nervous and spent her time looking down at her phone sending messages to Polly telling her to hurry up with her arrival.

While she was at it she decided to check her emails and was surprised to see she had a notification from her blog. 'One New Message' the email title read. Her heart skipped a beat and she wasn't sure why. That's a lie, she knew exactly why but she wasn't going to get excited over the possibility of a response, especially so soon. Yet that was exactly what she got. She didn't even realise she was holding her breath until she started getting all flustered and she bit her lip and opened up the message and read:

 **Kid,**

 **I cannot believe you thought so low of me that I don't read my messages.**

 **A.V.**

She couldn't even remember what she'd sent her and she definitely didn't want to check but whatever it was Alex has pretty much ignored it all and yet she'd still replied. A grin appeared on her face.

"What's gotten into you?" Polly replied as she sat down opposite Piper. Piper had been so distracted she hadn't even noticed Polly enter the pub. "And geez Piper your taste in pubs has really gone downhill you do need to get out more."

Piper rolled her eyes. "Polly what do you know about Alex Vause?"

"Oh you're still on about her?" When Piper gave her a look that demanded an answer Polly went on. "Okay so she's some super smart businesswoman who according to tabloids likes to party an awful lot in New York, I think she lives in LA oh and she's a lesbian whore."

Piper nodded. As much as she loved gossip she'd tried to avoid tabloids recently in an attempt to write raw material. She didn't want to be someone who wasn't taken seriously in the world or journalism so she thought it might be better to read more serious work instead so her latest information on what was going on in the celebrity world was sort of hindered.

She whipped out her phone and responded to Alex's message.

 **Where's the best place to party in New York? I'm told you would know.**

Within minutes she had a reply.

 **Oh kid, it's not** ** _where_** **you party but** ** _who_** **you party with!**

 _Can someone please pinch me and tell me it's still real?_ Piper thought to herself. She grabbed her bag and jumped out of her seat and called back to Polly. "I've changed my mind let's just go back home."

Polly frowned in confusion at her friend's change of mind but followed her nevertheless.


	3. Chapter 3

**My chapters seem to be getting longer and longer I don't know if that's a good thing. I'm trying to update regularly but I work 6 days a week so it makes it difficult. But here you go.**

Alex

She woke up to the sound of her phone buzzing. She shut it off assuming that it was her alarm but it kept buzzing on and off for the next couple of minutes so she grabbed her glasses from the side and shoved them on her face before picking up her phone to check what was causing the vibrations. "Nicky." She groans as she picks up the phone. She hears some mumblings from the other end of the line. She grunted in return and threw her phone on the other side of the bed.

She glanced at the alarm clock that now she was really paying attention, was blaring in her face. It read six am. _Way too damn early_ she thought to herself. She would never ever get used to getting up at this time no matter how many times her PA, Nicky would ring her and remind her she would never wake up to her alarm. Some things just weren't meant to go together and Alex Vause waking up early was one of these things.

She had completely forgotten that she needed to be up early. If she had known last night she would not have called up some of her New York friends and definitely would not have drunk the amount of alcohol that she had. As she sat up she put a hand to her forehead and she was sure she felt her head pounding as if it were about to burst. Luckily she had some water left over from last night, which could be seen in the bottle next to her alarm. _Fuck,_ she thought as she took a swig of the water after putting a tablet in her mouth. _This isn't water._ She had forgotten that once the bottle had been finished she had filled it up with nothing but vodka. So instead of having water with her tablet she had pure vodka. That definitely wasn't going to help her and she was sure it wasn't healthy but there was little she could do now. It was clear to the raven headed woman it was going to be one of those days.

With her head spinning she slowly made her way to the shower. She tried her best not to look at herself in the mirror in fear of what she was going to see. It was clear already that she was going to have to bring the sunglasses out. Her PR team were definitely going to kill her if the alcohol hadn't already done that to her. _What had she done?_ It wasn't like she could cover it up easily. She was going on television for Christ's sake. Live television to be exact. She managed to get into the shower after taking off her glasses and putting them by the sink without looking at herself in the mirror. She freshened up, got changed into a smart suit opting for trousers instead of a skirt. Now the only thing left was to sort out her face.

She looked at herself in the mirror and sighed. Her skin was looking paler than ever and she was naturally very pale. Her eyes looked red and the skin surrounding it looking bruised and it was almost as if she were really ill or hadn't slept in weeks. This would be the kind of day where she'd just walk around in sunglasses all day. Usually she would wear eyeliner and that would be about it but that wouldn't cut it today. Today however foundation and concealer went, she was tempted to put more on to make her look less ill but decided that it was better if they did it down at the studio. At least she could wear her sunglasses up until that point.

She grabbed her bag, glancing at the clock to make sure she had enough time, which luckily she did. A quick text message was sent to Nicky asking her to grab a sandwich and a coffee, something she could really do with right now, and then she was off. Switching off the light and closing the door behind her she headed towards the lift in the hotel that she was staying at and called down for her car to be brought to the front.

The journey to the studio seems to take forever even if it's only 20 minutes in New York traffic. It's a Saturday morning and the streets are flooded in the Big Apple, time never seems to stop here. The car parks up just outside so Alex can walk in quickly. She is met at the door by Nicky who hands her a croissant and a coffee, then grabs hers from the side and takes a bite while attempting to explain what is going on. Alex has to get her to repeat because the food in her mouth made her difficult to understand and Nicky just rolled her eyes. She expected Alex to be used to it by now but she never was. They always seemed to be in a rush. It wasn't that they were late just that Alex wanted to ensure every time that she was fully briefed not once but twice. She was that efficient. Nothing was ever allowed to go wrong.

So while Alex had her makeup applied Nicky explained what she was going to be quizzed about, any news she needed to know that had come up recently, and reminded her how best to avoid questions. A small comment was made about Alex's appearance and her looking like a cross between Frankenstein and Dracula by Nicky, which earnt an eye-roll from Alex.

It wasn't long before she was waiting in the wings and was ready to walk onto the set. Once she heard her name called she strolled in doing her best to hold her posture and to act professional. Glancing towards the audience she saw that a majority were teenage girls squealing as she walked on. They seemed to follow her wherever she went. It didn't bother her, in fact she milked it quite a lot. Girls had always thrown themselves at her. She was used to it, but she wasn't boastful about it.

In fact it was the first comment the interviewer made to Alex, observing the reaction she gained from the audience. Alex thanked the woman for her kind comment and that was the start of a very good interview. She went on to discuss the second movie her production company had ever made and she was excited that it was to premier next week, they also addressed her personal life touching on the fact that she is indeed single, which caused some excitement from the audience and if Alex was phased by that it didn't show.

In secret Alex hated doing all these interviews, it just wasn't her; having to dress up and be professional wasn't her thing. She much preferred working, but it was because of all that, that this became a necessity. Any one who knew her, knew that she wasn't exactly herself in interviews. As much as Nicky tried to get her personality out in them Alex would just take them like another business meeting. But when you met her individually, away from the cameras she was still this strong confident woman, but her sex appeal would be off the scale. She'd have this thing about her that just sucked all the air out of the room.

After the interview was over Nicky's first words to her were "such bullshit Vause. Absolute bullshit." She was shaking her head and laughing at the same time.

"They know it anyway it doesn't matter what I say." Alex said with a laugh.

They were both referring to the part in the interview where Alex said she just hadn't met the right person to settle down with yet. She wasn't going to out herself as someone who enjoyed the company of many different women so this was the safe option that Nicky had briefed her on beforehand. But Alex knew the drill anyway.

Alex was grateful it was over so now she could go back to her office and do what she was actually good at: working but by the time she left the exit was filled with lines of people wanting to get selfies and autographs with her. "This is going to be a long day," she muttered to Nicky.

Piper

Piper was woken up by Polly shaking here and whispering to her, "Piper there's someone on the phone for you, get up. Piper." After Piper didn't respond Polly took a harsher approach: "get up you son of a bitch, whorebag." That woke Piper up as she sat straight up in her large king sized bed, with her hair flopping in all different directions. If anyone else were to see her right now they'd probably refer her to a scarecrow. Piper gave Polly the worst frown possible before grabbing the phone and yawning. Lazily she responded, "hello Piper Chapman speaking how can I help you?"

It turned out the woman on the other end of the line worked for a small magazine in New York and was inviting her for an interview. She had apologised profusely at the short notice she was giving but wanted Piper to pop along as soon as possible. Piper thanked her for the call and promised she'd be there within the hour. She had a shower in an attempt to wake herself up and tried to recall everything she had put on the application form all those weeks ago. This job wasn't big but it was a start. It would give her a platform to launch off of, and that's what she needed, some experience.

She joined Polly for breakfast but instead of copying Polly's pancakes with bacon and syrup, she opted for a healthier option in porridge with fruit. It was also quicker to make and given she had to be somewhere within what was now 45 minutes she had to get on with it. Eventually she finished and left her bowl in the sink, which Polly would kill her for later that day. With her hair half dry, and no makeup applied she left for the interview.

The woman called it an interview but it barely lasted fifteen minutes and most of that was discussing what Piper liked to blog about before they went off topic to discuss what their favourite movies were. Piper was a sucker for any with a strong female lead while the woman interviewing her preferred chick flicks. After the interview was over, the woman told Piper that she'd get back to her but it was said in such a way that Piper was sure she got the job.

She felt exceedingly giddy afterwards. It wouldn't be the best job in the world but it was right in the centre of New York and if all the people she worked with are as friendly as the woman who interviewed her then she knew she would enjoy working there. But the most important thing of all is that it would help pay the bills and she wouldn't have to go to her parents anymore, which was something she was exceedingly happy about.

As a reward on her way back she thought she would treat herself to a coffee. She had cut back recently with the amount of times she had been out because she simply could not afford it and had avoided getting coffee from anywhere but home, but today she was in such a good mood that she thought she deserved it.

Piper wandered down the street until she came across a Starbucks. This was one of her favourite places to go that is, if she wasn't going to go to a cute little coffee shop where she'd also usually have a slice of cake or brownie. But today she felt like walking about in the fresh air soaking up the atmosphere of the city. Although she'd been in New York for a few months now she had spent very little time exploring the city. It had only really dawned on her that she had done little exploring when she realised she had done very little with her life in New York so far and was pleased to think that she was finally making some steps forward in her life. This was important because her brother Cal had just brought home his first girlfriend and the pressure was on for Piper to find a lovely man, and work her way up the career ladder that she really, up until now, hadn't even got a foot on.

After ordering her coffee Piper took off her suit jacket and put it in her bag as the weather started to heat up. She earnt some strange looks from passers-by as she held a coffee in one hand. People must have thought she was odd to walk around with a hot drink in what seemed to be a very warm September morning. What they didn't know, but Piper did, was that in actual fact hot drinks have a tendency to cool you down better than colder drinks do; she had the right idea. She had opted for a cute stripy black and white dress that was formal enough to wear to an interview but also informal enough that she could wear it casually, which is exactly what she was doing now.

She took no notice of the people around her though, her long blonde wavy hair was now drying up in the sun and she glanced around admiring all the New York architecture and the big buildings that surrounded her. She felt rather overwhelmed by it all if she was answering truthfully. The sun shone on her tanning skin, although she wished she had remembered to put sunscreen on that morning as if she wasn't careful she could easily burn.

She looked so young and naïve in such a big city, like a young girl who had no cares or worries in the world. Her eyes were wide-open paying attention to even the minute details, as she'd never been to this part of the city before. She passed a tiny bookstore, which wasn't yet open and she decided to note down where it was exactly so she could be sure to come back at a later time. Reading was Piper's hobby; it was what she would do in her downtime. She loved the fictional world, and loved supporting little independent bookstores; it was just something that was important to her.

As she walked down the street she noticed the architecture started to change so she decided to walk down the next road on her left. She found herself in a familiar place but could not remember where she recognised it. That was until the name of a famous studio was placed on a billboard right in front of her. As she walked closer to it, intrigued to know whether anything was being filmed at the minute she saw swarms of people just hanging around what looked like an entrance. She walked until she was just across the street from where the people stood and noticed that they all seemed to be young girls, some around her age, some young and a few older. She assumed that they were all waiting for a boy band or something but decided to hang around to see what happened.

She leant against a lamppost that was conveniently placed and observed as some of the women chatted away amongst themselves almost as if they were familiar with each other while others just looked in all directions while waiting for this mystery guest to appear.

Alex

A couple of security guards led the way out of the exit trying to create a pathway for Alex's exit. She signed a few people's photos they had ready and took a couple of selfies but Nicky was doing her best to usher her through the crowd. Barriers were eventually put in place so Alex could easily get through to her car that was being brought round for her. The guards were trying to send people away but with little success. Nicky was shouting out that they'd be back in New York for the premier of the movie and they'd all have time then – it was a lie but it had to be said.

Alex glanced towards the road seeing if her car had been brought round yet but it hadn't. She would have to hang around and sign a few more autographs until then. But when she looked up she saw a woman standing across the road. She was beautiful, long blonde hair with natural waves in it. She was leaning against a lamppost with a coffee in her hand looking ever so casual but unbelievably stunning. Alex squinted slightly in her glasses and realised that this woman was familiar to her. The crowd started to notice that Alex's attention was elsewhere but no one realised exactly what was going on. Alex decided to walk towards this woman who had a smirk etched on her face.

"Piper Chapman right?" Alex asked her, but she already knew the answer and it was clear to the blonde as well.

"Fancy seeing you here Alex," she quipped back.

"Yeah, fancy that." Alex raised her eyebrows. "It's almost like you intended it." Alex could only assume that Piper knew about the television interview and decided to make her way down here. Piper looked unnerved apart from the lip bite that made Alex weak at the knees.

"I assure you it wasn't intentional. I couldn't even tell you where I am right now." There was an air of honesty to Piper's voice.

Alex glanced at her observing the blonde and they caught each other's eye for a moment. It was broken when Alex glanced down at the coffee that was in Piper's hand. Alex licked her lips ever so slightly and caught Piper off guard by grabbing it from her hand and taking a swig.

She spluttered. "What is this disgusting vomit tasting cold drink?"

"Are you insulting my taste in coffee?"

"It's fucking cold Pipes."

Piper grinned at the new nickname. "I happen to prefer it that way."

"Anything else I might want to know? Salt in your tea? Ketchup with your pancakes?"

"I tried it once, it wasn't my thing." Piper joked.

"So tell me, why carry a suit jacket around the middle of New York City? Rather formal isn't it?" Alex observed.

"I had an interview for a magazine. Inside Spy I think it's called."

"Clearly you've done your research."

Piper laughed an unbelievably cute laugh and Alex could have stood there all day talking to this mysteriously intriguing woman. But her car pulled up and she was reminded that she had to go back into work.

"What you doing for the rest of the day?"

"Oh I have grand plans." Sarcasm was oozing out of Piper's mouth.

"Oh what a shame, I was going to offer to show you how a real magazine is run. You know one that doesn't sound like a creepy pervert that watches your every move."

Piper did that laugh again.

Alex's driver opened the door for her and she got in. Alex rolled down the window and leaned out, "so are you coming?"

Piper didn't need to be asked twice. She tossed her coffee into the nearest bin and skipped round to the other side of the car and got in. This was unexpected.


End file.
